Orangutans in Melbourne Zoo playing interactive videogames using Xbox technology

A new program at the Melbourne Zoo will enrich the lives of its resident orangutans.

Supplied: University of Melbourne

Orangutans at Melbourne Zoo are playing interactive videogames as part of a world-first enrichment program.

Zoos Victoria worked with researchers at the University of Melbourne's Microsoft Research Centre for Social Natural User Interfaces (NUI) to create the games, which use Kinect 3D technology from Microsoft's Xbox One gaming system.

The games project images on to the floor of the orangutans' enclosure, and sense the animals' movements when they interact with the projections.

Social NUI research fellow Marcus Carter said the idea for the technology was born when researchers found out zookeepers were using painting and musical games on tablets as a form of enrichment for the animals.

"They were really limited in their capacity to interact, the zookeeper had to hold [the tablet] out because the orangutans could probably break it in half," he said.

"We thought it was terrific, but we also thought we could probably do something better for them."

The team designed new games using "intelligent projections", which turns the floor of the enclosure into a touch screen.